Month: May 2017

Sorry, this post has nothing to do with the opera of the same name. I have simply run out of titles, and this was literally the first word association with “butterflies”. Sorry, Puccini. Anyway, the outfit is pretty good, my lack of title creativity aside. And, well, simple too. But simple can still be good, right? And simple can certainly be excused on a (casual) Friday. I chose the silk shirt because I was getting my Lasik surgery, and was told not to wear wool or other fibers that might shed. The cotton chinos were pure comfort. As for the metallic loafers … well, they need no explanation, I think. They’re just bomb awesome.

close-up … on my kids’ chalk artb-b-b-butterflyyeah, i don’t even know, you guys — what is happening here

One of my fave things about this outfit, though, is the fact that it’s a perfect embodiment of my current shopping habits: part thrift, part consignment, part eBay. Only the sunglasses are retail, and that’s because I’m sometimes a greedy, impatient person. With that said, they’re pretty awesome and I would definitely recommend them. The brand is Quay, and I bought mine through Simons (with free shipping!) because they were cheaper there than on (Canadian) Amazon. Not that I`m trying to enable your (retail) consumption but … well, maybe I am. Nobody`s perfect.

I thrifted a bunch of Ruth Rendell mysteries a while back, and promptly forgot about them … until recently when I ran out of other reading material. I devoured 3 of them in the space of a little more than a weekend, and they were really, really satisfying. I often forget about Rendell, although she should really be up there with PD James on my list of fave modern mystery writers. Her novels, although ostensibly centered around Detective Wexford and his team, are really more psychological thrillers or why-dunits than police procedurals. Her plots are often intricate and unusual, and yet somehow never seem implausible. I think they are similar in tone/approach to Tana French’s novels, but much better executed, in my opinion.

I read Babes In The Wood, End in Tears, and Sight For Sore Eyes and all 3 were excellent. I was fascinated by the character of Teddy Brex in Sight For Sore Eyes; Rendell has a great knack for getting into the mind of disturbed people and making their motivations and choices seem perfectly understandable even if not morally excusable. I also liked the more traditional whodunit plot of Babes In The Wood, which was a “missing persons” story chock-full of twists I did not see coming, not to mention a red herring or three. I am currently on the hunt for more Rendell mysteries at the thrift store to build up my library. These are definitely “re-reads” for me, so I would like to have them in my personal collection.

A big Amazon order also just came in, so I’m excited to delve into that new material. I think I’m going to start with a biography of Stalin … you know, just some light reading. With that said, my to-be-read stash is still pretty low, and I like to plan ahead, so if you have recommendations, keep them coming!

As for articles, this provocatively titled piece in Harper’s Bazaar caught my eye: Feminism Doesn’t Mean Liking Every Stupid Girl You Meet. To the extent that the idea that “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women” has been bastardized to mean that women have to validate/support any and all positions or choices espoused by other women, I agree with this writer’s take. To me, feminism means that all women should have the same rights and freedoms as men — including the right to autonomy of choice. But I don’t believe that feminism obliges me to agree with the specific choices of other women; only to fight for their right to exercise the choice. I think that is an important distinction. Feminism also doesn’t prevent me from criticizing a woman as long as my criticism is based on the same criteria I would apply to a man in the same circumstances, and my expression of that criticism takes the same form as it would if its subject was a man. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Cassie wrote a thought-provoking post about wearing your clothes versus modeling them (for blog purposes). As a blogger, I totally relate to this and can attest that it’s a pressure even “amateurs” experience regularly. As a blog reader, it’s one of the things that make it hard for me to relate to the majority of professional bloggers; I often find myself wondering, “did you really wear that — and for how long?”

On a totally different note, The Fashion Law reports that Louis Vuitton is suing a Canadian (holla!) flea market for selling counterfeits. Apparently, this may be a precedent-setting case in Canada; LV is attempting to hold the landlord/flea market owner responsible for the actions of individual sellers (stall tenants). My take: good on LV. I don’t consider myself an LV customer, though I own a couple of (authentic) bags, purchased secondhand; however, if I were an LV customer, I would appreciate the brand’s efforts because, even leaving the criminal elements involved in counterfeiting, the saturation of the market with counterfeits lowers the value of customers’ legitimate products, in my opinion. In other words, if I’m paying thousands of dollars for the real thing, I don’t want to see cheap fakes on every street corner. But that’s just my 2 cents.

You know those days when you wake up and your hair magically looks amazing in that “just rolled out of bed” way that usually takes a huge amount of effort to create? Yeah, that almost never happens to me either. It did, randomly, a couple of weeks ago, and ever since I’ve been trying to recreate the effect minus the usual huge amount of effort. I’m pretty sure one of the key ingredients is sleeping on wet hair. Easy peasy; I usually do that. The other key ingredient(s) … well, that is where I struggle. I have no idea what it/they are. I’ve tried combing, and also not-combing my (wet) hair before bed. I’ve tried spritzing my hair with sea salt spray. I’ve gone back to using a non-silk pillowcase and rolling around on it for extra measure. Sometimes my efforts pay off; sometimes they don’t.

This was one of my more successful efforts.

A Good Hair Day?

I’m struggling with this because I’m at a bit of a crossroads. I’m not hugely fond of my current haircut/length anymore, so I need to decide whether to go shorter, or grow it out (a bit or a lot). I’m currently leaning towards growing it out, but that option requires me to learn to live with the current follicular situation as best as I can — and this intentional bedhead/tousled style may be my best shot. If I can master it.

Some days, I am definitely tempted to just cut my hair and be Done With It All.

Anyway, the outfit. I pulled out this old Anthro dress which hasn’t really seen the light of day since last summer, and now I’m worried that I may have jinxed us all. If it suddenly snows tomorrow, don’t blame me, OK?